Kitchen Tip Tuesdays: How to make your food look as good as it tastes!

When I started cooking regularly (which was when I got married 8 years ago), I was a no-nonsense cook. Garnish? Bah! Who needs it?! Taste is all that matters, right? :)

Joshua, however, loves to make foods look beautiful. In the years since I started blogging about food, I've realized the importance of making a dish look attractive. Here are some of my tips for garnishing foods!

The obvious: Place a few parsley sprigs on the plate of food (attractively arranged, with the main dish in the middle of the plate).

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Beautiful pictures, your right making food look good to eat is super important. And garnishing really isn't that hard to do. I am leaving a tip on how to hard boil eggs, and also make fun cracked dyed Easter eggs, fun to do this time of year and for deviled eggs.

Joshua is so right that presentation is important, after all, we do eat with our eyes ... so I need to pay more attention to how I plate food {sometimes quick and sometimes sloppy} and try your tips. Maybe if I look at the food before I put it on the table like I would if I was going to photograph the food, that would help me think of composition!

My tips this week are related to making lasagna but could also apply to other dishes ... using an egg slicer to get consistent slices of fresh mozzarella and replacing lasagna noodles with whole grain or gluten free wraps to reduce calories, speed prep, and make the dish appropriate for those with related dietary restrictions. There's also a link to a recipe that uses some interesting and novel ingredients for lasagna.

Thanks for the reminder to make my food attractive. It is easy for me to just streamline and as long as the meal tastes good and is good for my family, my goal is met. But when I take the effort to do the extras it really is noticed and appreciated. I hadn't thought of several of your ideas. They are all so simple, so their's no excuse not to sprinkle the extra spice or cheese in an attractive way. :)

The tip I would like to share today is how to stock up on eggs while they are on sale.
http://www.feelgoodaboutdinner.com/2012/03/how-to-stock-up-on-eggs.html

I love to garnish food! It makes it so much more appetizing. Even something as simple as layering food (rice on the bottom, chicken on top and a sprinkle of herbs on that) can make food more appealing. Favorite garnishes:
- Chopped herbs or red peppers on any dish, including soups
- Carrot curls (use the peeler to cut thin slices, drop in ice water and they curl on their own)
- Shaved chocolate for desserts
- Fresh tomato or mushroom slices on dishes that contain them cooked
- Citrus twists (slice a lime, lemon or orange, cut one side to the middle and give it a twist)